


they don't know our love is real

by themadtilde



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Established Relationship, Famous Magnus Bane, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Magnus Bane is a Little Shit, No one believes Alec, Shy Alec, a little clace on the side too, a little fluff, also, flawless magnus bane, i needed to squeeze some saphael in here ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 03:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14150844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themadtilde/pseuds/themadtilde
Summary: “What?” he said when he eventually glanced at her and saw her widened eyes. “Were you actually watching that? It was a horrible tv show, Isabelle …”“No, not that.” His sister shook her head and sat up a little straighter, looking at him with a concerned expression. “It’s just … it’s been weeks, Alec. And you’re still talking about Magnus.”or: AU where no one believes that shy, introverted and generally socially awkward Alec has landed himself a boyfriend, and especially not the famous fashion designer Magnus Bane.





	they don't know our love is real

**Author's Note:**

> Please read these notes:  
> First, I can't differentiate between American and British English, which for example is why I spell "realize" and such with a "z".  
> This is unbeta'd and I will correct mistakes as I see them.  
> English is not my native language and I have no idea how college works. Can you be a college student and be famous? Well, you can be famous at the age of 12 with a youtube channel but I don't know if labels actually can sign you if you are a college student.  
> This was just written for fun and any mistakes, both spelling and education systems etc, are on me!  
> Also, I use the book canon looks meaning that Magnus is taller than Alec and Alec has blue eyes. But that's not very important to the story anyways.
> 
> This work was inspired by Takara_Phoenix and her work: My College Boyfriend. It's a Percy/Nico fanfic and the idea for this fic comes from that one. If you have read both, you will notice some similarities; the whole concept with the dark, shy and dorky character getting an extrovert, older boyfriend and no one believes him. Some of the events in this story are also inspired by Takara_Phoenix, but I have put my own spin to it, meaning that it's not a parody or a cover either. (I don't know how to link but you should definitely check out Takara_Phoenix, they are an amazing author!!)
> 
> I don't own Mortal Instruments.

“Hi,” said Isabelle when Alec entered the living room. “Where have you been?”

It was Thursday afternoon, and Isabelle lay sprawled over the couch, watching TV. She wore the same clothes as she had done in school but her hair had been freed from her ponytail. She gave her brother a questioning look.

Alec shrugged and went to sit down next to her. “With Magnus. We went to a café and then to the movies. What are you watching?” He reached for the remote and started zapping, at first not noticing Isabelle’s stare.

“What?” he said when he eventually glanced at her and saw her widened eyes. “Were you actually watching that? It was a horrible tv show, Isabelle …”

“No, not that.” His sister shook her head and sat up a little straighter, looking at him with a concerned expression. “It’s just … it’s been weeks, Alec. And you’re still talking about Magnus.”

Alec shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

“So? You keep saying that the Magnus Bane, famous college student but also fashion designer, is actually dating you?”

“Yup.” Alec popped the p and grinned. Isabelle sighed.

“Look, Alec,” she bit her lip, “I don’t know why you’re interested in a fashion designer exactly, but I do understand if you like to pretend that you have a boyfriend, so Jace and I stop bugging you about it …”

Alec rolled his eyes crossed his arms. “We’ve been over this, Isabelle. I’m not pretending and I’m not lying. I met Magnus at Starbucks, we started talking, he asked me out and so on.”

“How come we’ve never have seen him, then?” Isabelle pressed. “Why have we never met him, talked to him, or even seen a picture of you two together?”

Alec gave her a wary look. “Because Magnus is a hard-working college student,” he said. “He barely has time for me. He postpones a lot of work, to spend just two hours with me.”

“And why haven’t you ever taken a selfie?”

“Because we like to keep our relationship lowkey, okay? I don’t want people to stalk me just because I’m the famous Magnus Bane’s boyfriend. And neither does he want pictures to leak on the Internet, unless he’s approved of them.”

Isabelle stared at him, eyebrows raised. Alec sighed, irritated.

“You still don’t believe me, do you?”

She shook her head slowly. “Alec, that was the shittiest excuse I’ve ever heard,” she said, and Alec scoffed.

* * *

 

“They still think you’re a piece of my imagination,” Alec informed as he walked through the door to Magnus’ apartment. Quickly kicking off his boots in the hallway, he entered the living room and saw, to his surprise, Raphael sitting on the couch.

“Hi, Raphael” he greeted. “What are you doing here?” He squinted at the sullen, pale boy. “And why are you wearing a tux?”

“He’s going on a date with Simon,” Magnus cut in as he swooped into the room. Raphael glared at him and brushed some invisible dust off of his knees.

“It’s not a date,” he said. Both Magnus and Alec scoffed, and Magnus said:

“And that’s why you’re wearing your most expensive suit and shoes?”

Raphael only flipped him the finger before he fell back on the sofa, sighing.

“Whatever, I’m not meeting Simon for yet another twenty minutes. You go ahead and do your kissing. Even I know it’s been weeks since you saw each other.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks Raphael-” he said, before Magnus practically fell on him and hugged him. Alec staggered backwards and barely stopped them from falling to the floor.

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around Magnus’ lean torso and hugged him back. Magnus wore soft, relaxed clothes and was, for once, not drenched in glitter or anything like that.

“I’ve missed you,” Magnus muttered into Alec’s neck.

“I know, me too,” Alec replied.

“How sweet the couple is,”  Raphael commented from the couch. “I’m not sure if I’m still in the real world or if I’ve accidentally entered a sloppy rom-com for the 80’s.”

“Oh, shut up. You’re just jealous Simon isn’t here, kissing you senseless on the couch right now,” Magnus retorted. Raphael glowered at him, but could apparently not come up with a comeback.

“Why are you even here if you’re going to meet Simon?” Alec inquired.

“Magnus is my self-proclaimed advisor,” Raphael replied. “Though if he doesn’t stop making shitty comments and remarks, I might just fire him.”

Alec looked at Magnus and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Magnus shrugged and shook his head. “He’s just been like that ever since Simon came into the picture. Don’t mind him.”

“At least my friends know Simon exists,” Raphael cut off. “And they don’t believe I’m going insane for dating a guy of my imagination.”

Alec closed his eyes and sighed. “Yeah,” he sighed. “About that. I really don’t know what to do. Izzy’s been putting up with me the past weeks, but I seriously thinks she’s considering hiring a psychiatrist for me.”

Raphael sat up. “Wait, they are actually still believing Magnus is your fantasy boy? I thought you were joking.”

“I wish I weren’t.”

Magnus bit his lip. “You know I’d love to see your family in real life, but I can barely take half an hour to eat lunch before either my professors jump me regarding my attendance, or my manager wants me to come for a meeting or interview. And you are quite busy with your tutoring, too.”

“I know, I know,” Alec sighed. “And it’s not your fault. And I don't regret that I agreed to tutor Simon," he added, with a quick glance to Raphael. "I’m just getting tired of being viewed as mentally unstable. Especially when you’re real.”

Magnus blinked. “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” he chirped. “I am extraordinary fabolous and magnificent. I’m not sure if the world actually would be able to come up with someone as amazing as me.”

Raphael snorted, _“as if,”_ and Alec rolled his eyes, punching Magnus lightly on the arm.

* * *

 

Two more weeks passed, and Alec didn’t meet Magnus even once during that time. He only called once, when neither Isabelle or Jace were home, meaning that Alec couldn’t shove his phone in their faces and prove Magnus’ existence. Of course, he could show them one of their texting conversations, but he doubted they would believe him even then. Isabelle would probably think that he had just asked someone to chat with him under the name “Magnus BAE” in Alec’s phone. Plus, most of his and Magnus’ texts were sappy “I miss you”-s and “I love you”-s, which he really didn’t feel like showing his siblings. However, both Isabelle and Jace were still pestering him about this imaginary-or-not-thing, and he was getting seriously tired of it.

* * *

 

“Uhm …” Isabelle said, warily eyeing the couple before her. “Simon, I’m really glad that you finally pulled your head out of your ass and let Raphael stick it in …” she paused, and was pleased to notice that this comment actually gained their attention, even though Raphael glowered at her and Simon’s cheeks turned beet red. “But that doesn’t mean that you can suck each other’s faces off _while in public._ Or, more precisely, _when your friends are around._ ” She gave them a stern look, and Clary laughed.

“Come on Iz, it’s Simon’s first time getting some,” she quipped, winking when Simon gave her a betrayed look.

Simon, Raphael, Jace, Clary and Isabelle were all seated around a table at their local café, The Gard (an admittedly strange name for a café). They had placed themselves as far away as possible from the other visitors, meaning that no one would see if Raphael and Simon were indeed sucking each other’s faces off, or if Jace repeatedly snatched new toothpicks to snap in half and either throw at Clary or try to push it down her cleavage.

“You are disgusting,” Isabelle told them when Jace, for the fifth time, thrust his hand down Clary’s T-shirt, earning him a laugh and a shriek as he let the remaining pieces of the toothpick rain down her belly.

“I’m happy Meliorn isn’t here to see it. He already thinks low enough of you.”

“Speaking of Meliorn,” Simon said, extracting himself from Raphael’s arms (which made the boy cross his arms and retract to his usual sullen, glaring self instead), “have you dumped him yet?”

Isabelle sighed and shrugged. “Meh, I don’t really know if I should or not. It’s like, for a few minutes, everything between us is really great and then I say something, like ‘maybe you should brush your hair,’ and he turns all offensive and starts yelling about how I’m a bossy bitch …” She launched into a very excessive explanation of hers and Meliorn’s latest quarrel, with Simon as the only active listener: Clary and Jace were still bickering and giggling, throwing toothpicks and now also napkins at each other; and Raphael was staring out the window as if it weren’t worth being here if he didn’t have Simon’s full attention.

Alec sat quietly in his seat, sipping his coffee, not even bothering to reprimand Jace and Clary for their childish behaviour. He knew that it would be to no avail anyways.

“... Alec?”

“Huh?” He jerked, and looked up to see his sister frowning at him.

“You’re very quiet,” she noted. “Is everything okay?”

“He’s just grumpy because he doesn’t have anyone to make mushy faces with,” Jace shot in, holding Clary’s wrists away from him so that she wouldn’t be able to press a dirty napkin in his face.

“Aw, don’t fret about that Alec!” Simon chirped, grabbing Raphael’s shoulder and shaking him gently. “I know we might be a bit lovey-dovey-disgusting with each other …”

“A bit?” Isabelle snorted under her breath, and Raphael rolled his eyes and freed himself from Simon’s grip.

“But you will find someone eventually!” Simon continued, ignoring Isabelle’s comment and leaning over the table. “We can find you a boyfriend - I’m sure that club, Pandemonium, has lots of attractive, male strangers. I mean, someone with your looks can't be destined to be single. Just look at your jawline and hair … and dude, your eyes are very captivating …” Simon yelped as Raphael smacked his across his head, giving him a look that said ‘ _that is quite enough’_ (though he didn’t even look half as annoyed or exasperated as he would have if Simon had ranted like that three months ago.)

Alec sighed and sank lower in his seat. “Guys, I really appreciate your concern, but I don’t _need_ to find a boyfriend! I have Magnus!”

A brief moment of silence fell upon them as everyone else shared a look that Alec knew all too well.

“Alec …” Isabelle began, her voice dejected and tentative. Alec sighed inwardly and prepared himself to counterattack.

“I know everything’s been tough for you these last few months - coming to terms with your sexuality, coming out to our parents, and all that craziness about college and money and moving out. And I know that I have been very busy with Meliorn, and we have barely _seen_ Jace and Clary, and Simon’s been busy pining over Raphael -” “Hey!” “ - but making up an imaginary boyfriend is _not_ the solution to that! I understand if you feel lonely, but pretending to date someone who doesn’t exist will only make it worse in the long run!”

“Though Magnus Bane is quite real,” Clary piped up. “I’ve seen his Instagram. That man’s _insane._ But also cool.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “In Alec’s case, he might as well be imaginary,” she scoffed. “Especially considering that you said he would meet us here today, eh?”

That was true. For the first time ever, Magnus had texted Alec and said that he could meet his friends and introduce himself as the very real, very glittery Magnus Bane. After several promises of catching up on the work later, and twenty minutes of persuading his manager Catarina to let him go for just one night, he had managed to free two hours to meet Alec and his friends. Alec had delightedly invited all his friends to The Gard the following day, something that they somewhat hesitantly agreed to when he mentioned Magnus. Clearly, no one believed that he would show up.

And considering the latest text that Alec had gotten from Magnus, he wouldn’t do it either:

 

**_Magnus BAE_ **

_I’m SOOOOOOOO sorry babe but I can't make it tonight! Emergency meeting with a few labels, it’s really important for my designs. Catarina refuses to let me go. Love u <3 <3 _

 

“It’s not Magnus’ fault that he’s a very desired and very trending designer,” Alec claimed, glaring at Isabelle. “He’s apologized ten times already for not making it today, and I don’t want to give him a guilty conscience.”

“Just admit it, Alec,” Jace sighed. “He was never going to show up. I bet you haven’t even spoken to him.”

Alec’s frustration, that slowly had been built up during this whole conversation, bristled.

“I _have_ spoken to him, damnit!” he exclaimed angrily. “We have been together for two and a half months, and I wish I could see him more, and _why don’t you believe me?_ ”

“Because,” Raphael said, unaffected by Alec’s mood. “Up until a few weeks ago, you were a shy, closeted and insecure guy who didn’t even leave your room unless your siblings forced you, and you avoided almost all interaction with other people. You are socially awkward and you hate contact with other humans. And you’re still exactly the same, except closeted.”

Alec huffed and crossed his arms. “Who asked you?” he said grunted, but Raphael just gave him a knowing look and flashed a quick, sly grin. Alec glowered at him - he knew very well that Raphael said that just to mess with him. And he was truly not helping - he was just fueling Jace's and Isabelle's doubts by coming up with actually reasonable explanations to their behaviour. Raphael, the only person here who knew the truth. Alec would have to talk to him about that later. And  _talk_ meaning angrily accusing him of betrayal and also threaten to  _maybe_ make Simon suffer twice as much during his tutoring sessions.

“Look, Alec, over there.” Isabelle nudged him and he gave her a bemused look, turning his head. “That barista, over there. He’s hot, right? You should try and talk to him.”

Alec followed her gaze to the barista that apparently had taken the previous barista’s shift. It was a guy in his twenties, with dark brown hair and long eyelashes. And he did actually look totally okay. Maybe if Alec weren’t already taken, he would have gone for it.

“Yeah, Jordan’s nice,” Simon nodded, and raised his eyebrows when everyone turned to look at him. “What? He’s friends with Eric.”

“He’s good-looking …” Alec said hesitantly. “But …”

“No buts!” Isabelle cut off. “Come on big bro, go and show us what flirting skills you’ve got!”

Alec shot Raphael a pleading look. He knew that the sulky, pale boy was friends with Magnus and was therefore also aware of Alec's and Magnus' relationship. Considering that Raphael was an actual witness to the couple's love declarations and to Alec's complaints regarding his siblings, he could supply and support Alec with proof of their relationship. But Raphael just raised his eyebrows and bit his lip, smirking, as if to say  _you're on your own._

Alec was desperately making up excuses in his head in order to not have to embarrass himself (and also possibly cheat on Magnus), when a new voice spoke up.

“I’m truly delighted to finally meet all of you renowned people, especially you Sherman who’s been the main cause of Raphael’s mood swings these months, though I would deeply appreciate it if you didn’t push my boyfriend to flirt with someone else, seeing as he’s already taken.”

Everyone’s, including Alec’s, mouth fell open with shock as a tall, slim man with a dark purple suit and black hair full of glitter and rainbow streaks casually slid into the booth with them. His hair was styled in spikes and his narrow, yellow-green eyes were framed with a thick eyeliner and dark eyeshadow.

Raphael was the only one who seemed quite collected about all of this. He merely raised an eyebrow, giving the man a ‘really’?-look.

“What a pleasure to meet you, Magnus,” he said sarcastically. Clary let a small squeak slip out as she stared wide-eyed at Magnus.

“ _You’re_ Magnus Bane?” Isabelle nearly whispered. Her eyes were almost bugging out from her head.

Magnus flashed her a dazzling smile.

“The one and only,” he confirmed, slinging an arm around Alec’s shoulders. There was a brief moment of complete silence, with everyone staring at the flamboyant man who had joined them in their booth. Alec tilted his head back, smiling as Magnus pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. This led to incredulous gasping among the others, who were now staring at Alec, who was blushing happily.

“Wait - is this real?” Jace blurted out, not taking his eyes off Magnus. “Like, you are the guy my brother’s been talking endlessly about these past two months?”

Magnus’ eyes narrowed as he looked at Jace.

“I am the guy your brother’s been talking endlessly about for two months, yes. Quite observant you are, _Jace_ ,” he remarked dryly, making Raphael stifle a snort in Simon’s shoulder. Magnus spared Jace one last, uninterested glance before he turned to Isabelle.

“Ah, my darling Isabelle!” he exclaimed, causing her to duck her head and blush. “Even if Alec hadn’t shown me pictures of you and ranted about his amazing sister, I would be able to recognize those cheekbones and eyes anywhere. You are as gorgeous as your brother,” he winked, and Isabelle, who was used to flirtatious comments and flattering compliments, seemed to be at loss for words for once.

“Tiny, red-head, freckles … Clarissa Fray, am I right? I am acquainted with your mother - we have made a few business deals in the past. And ah …”

He let his eyes glide over to Simon, who was leaning into Raphael’s protective embrace. Still with his arm slung around his boyfriend’s shoulder, Magnus spoke:

“I’m truly delighted to finally meet the person who’s been making my Raphael the happiest and the most annoying person in the world,” Magnus started, causing Raphael to blush angrily. “I would love to stay and embarrass Raphael, and trust me, Solomon, there will come a time when I will tell you about Raphael’s absurd love for jackets and hair gel, but not now.”

Simon was, for once, not rambling and he looked like he was about to before Raphael clamped a hand over his mouth. With big, pleading eyes, Simon looked at his boyfriend who just shook his head, not removing his hand from Simon’s mouth.

“Wait!” Isabelle exclaimed, and Magnus turned to look at her.

“I just … so Alec’s been telling the truth all this time? You … are actually dating?” she asked, still not grasping the fact that Alec had actually managed to catch the famous Magnus Bane’s attention.

Alec groaned, hiding his face in his hands. "I told you!" he said and his exasperated words were muffled by his hands.

“Hush darling,” said Magnus, and jokingly petted Alec’s hair. “Let them have their moment of shock. After all, judging by your excessive stories about their doubts, they will need some time to take in all this fabulousness.”

He became serious again, giving Raphael a warning look that said _don’t comment_. Raphael gave him an unimpressed look and directed his gaze to his coffee cup.

“I understand your doubts because while I do love you, Alec, you are an incredibly shy and introverted person. Honestly, sometimes I am surprised that I managed to get under that stubborn facade.” Alec scoffed but didn’t deny it. He sunk lower in his seat, leaning into his boyfriend and gave Jace a triumphant look. The blond met his gaze and just shook his head slowly, eyes still wide.

“But I can assure you, Alec’s been completely truthful regarding his relationship with me,” Magnus continued, now looking at Isabelle and Jace.

“I may seem like a extroverted, crazy, talkative fashion designer who’s too caught up in his designs to care about anything else, but there is more to me than what my Instagram and the fashion magazines allows you to see. My busy job doesn't mean that I love Alec any less and without him, I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with all my work. I’m doing my best to make time for him, and I appreciate his patience regarding my job greatly.”

Alec smiled at this - a genuine smile, and for a second, as he and Magnus looked at each other, it was as if they were in their own bubble, and no one else mattered. However, Magnus cleared his throat and made them both snap back into reality.

“Anyways,” Magnus said, somewhat loftily, “while it was truly a pleasure to meet all of you, and I certainly hope that we can meet again some time and get to know each other a bit more, I would like to steal Alec away from you. I haven’t seen my boyfriend in two weeks and that is about two weeks too much for me. You see, I have a date for just the two of us planned.”

With that, he stood up and pulled Alec along with him. The blue eyed male yelped at the sudden treatment but didn’t protest - instead, he smiled stupidly gave his friends an awkward wave as Magnus dragged him away.

“Goodbye, Alec’s friends!” Magnus called, and the somewhat dazed group of friends at the table raised their hands in a stunned goodbye. The only one who seemed unfazed was Raphael, who was already texting Magnus under the table. (“You are such a drama queen. I know you only use glitter in your hair when you want to impress someone.”)

 

“Seriously?” Alec scowled when they came out on the street. “A limo? Really?”

Indeed, a black limousine was parked outside the café. People had gathered around it, curiously whispering and taking photos of it.

“Only the best for my boyfriend,” Magnus winked, and the crowd scattered when Magnus’ driver stepped out, giving the admiring people a stern, disapproving glare. “Plus, I bet your friends are watching us through the window, and I wanted to make a good first impression.”

“You lied, right?” Alec realized suddenly. “Catarina was never keeping you for meetings. You just wanted to make a grand entrance.”

Magnus smirked and gave his boyfriend a glittery wink.

“Guilty as charged,” he confessed, clearly not abashed by his behaviour.

He opened the door for Alec, bowing his head mockingly. Alec rolled his eyes and laughed, swatting his boyfriend’s head before awkwardly climbing into the limousine.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope there aren't any plot holes ... if so, point it out and I will try to cover it!  
> I panicked when it came to a title ... hence why it sucks  
> And I just HAD to bring Jordan in for a shortie, he's one of my favourite characters and I hope they bring him into the show too ♡  
> Leave a comment or a kudos if you'd like :)  
> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> Btw: I have a random question. Do you take off your shoes when you enter someone else's house? We do it in Sweden but I know it's not as common in the US.


End file.
